I remember the Central fondly as still a grand old place in the late 1950’s. Like the nearby Lux, it had a second run double feature policy with continuous showings starting at 10 a.m. Admission prices were low and presentation was very good. I remember seeing “Oklahoma!: there in 4 channel magnetic stereo sound and it looked and sounded nearly as good as it would at the Fox Oakland a few blocks away.
I loved the Lux in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It was an exceptionally clean and well managed second run house. Continuous showings of recent double features starting at 10:00 am with a nightly Spino game. A speaker was mounted outside so you could hear the movie soundtrack as you browsed the posters. Nice concession stand and as several people pointed out, the hot dogs were great! I would take the Key System bus from Richmond just to catch a double feature at the Lux. I think the last movie I saw there was “The Wild Bunch”. When they went to kung fu and other exploitation fare, I lost interest and heard in the final days the audiences were as rough as the movies on the screen. Every time I’m in downtown Oakland I stroll into the Goodwill store and look up at the portholes in the old projection room (now a storage area or office) and remember those pleasant days at the Lux.
The State was a second run Fox West Coast house at 501 McDonald Avenue (5th & McDonald) with 610 seats. It sometimes featured move over programs from the Costa, just two blocks away on McDonald. It closed in the early 1950’s.
The Fox was a Fox West Coast Theatre at 710 McDonald Avenue, formerly the Costa. Due to the Consent Decree in the early 1950’s, FWC had to relinquish their lease on the other Richmond Fox (Fox-California) at 823 McDonald. That theatre became the United Artists (UA) and the Costa was completely remodeled (Skouras-style) and reopened as the Fox on April 3, 1952. Seating capacity was 1118 in 1950. Along with the UA, the Fox closed down briefly in about 1957 leaving Richmond, population roughly 100,000 at the time, with no first run theatres. Only the last run flea pit Rio was left on McDonald Avenue. Both the Fox and UA soon reopened and lasted for a few more years, until the early 1960’s. As I remember, it was the UA rather than the Fox that was converted into a Woolworth’s (as mentioned above by Garrett Murphy).
In the 1950’s the Grand wasn’t all that “grand”…it had seen better days, but like all theatres in those days, it had it’s own “character”. It was then a second run Fox West Coast theatre near Richmond High School, sometimes playing move over programs from the downtown Fox (formerly Costa). What I remember most about the Grand were the kids matinees in the summer with an admission price of 9 cents. I first saw “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Yearling” there, along with many other current films and reissues. It closed down about 1956 or 1957, it’s final days being a weekends only operation. They never even installed a wide screen but did get CinemaScope lenses and played a few Scope films letterboxed on their old academy ratio screen.
I remember the Central fondly as still a grand old place in the late 1950’s. Like the nearby Lux, it had a second run double feature policy with continuous showings starting at 10 a.m. Admission prices were low and presentation was very good. I remember seeing “Oklahoma!: there in 4 channel magnetic stereo sound and it looked and sounded nearly as good as it would at the Fox Oakland a few blocks away.
I loved the Lux in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It was an exceptionally clean and well managed second run house. Continuous showings of recent double features starting at 10:00 am with a nightly Spino game. A speaker was mounted outside so you could hear the movie soundtrack as you browsed the posters. Nice concession stand and as several people pointed out, the hot dogs were great! I would take the Key System bus from Richmond just to catch a double feature at the Lux. I think the last movie I saw there was “The Wild Bunch”. When they went to kung fu and other exploitation fare, I lost interest and heard in the final days the audiences were as rough as the movies on the screen. Every time I’m in downtown Oakland I stroll into the Goodwill store and look up at the portholes in the old projection room (now a storage area or office) and remember those pleasant days at the Lux.
The State was a second run Fox West Coast house at 501 McDonald Avenue (5th & McDonald) with 610 seats. It sometimes featured move over programs from the Costa, just two blocks away on McDonald. It closed in the early 1950’s.
The Fox was a Fox West Coast Theatre at 710 McDonald Avenue, formerly the Costa. Due to the Consent Decree in the early 1950’s, FWC had to relinquish their lease on the other Richmond Fox (Fox-California) at 823 McDonald. That theatre became the United Artists (UA) and the Costa was completely remodeled (Skouras-style) and reopened as the Fox on April 3, 1952. Seating capacity was 1118 in 1950. Along with the UA, the Fox closed down briefly in about 1957 leaving Richmond, population roughly 100,000 at the time, with no first run theatres. Only the last run flea pit Rio was left on McDonald Avenue. Both the Fox and UA soon reopened and lasted for a few more years, until the early 1960’s. As I remember, it was the UA rather than the Fox that was converted into a Woolworth’s (as mentioned above by Garrett Murphy).
In the 1950’s the Grand wasn’t all that “grand”…it had seen better days, but like all theatres in those days, it had it’s own “character”. It was then a second run Fox West Coast theatre near Richmond High School, sometimes playing move over programs from the downtown Fox (formerly Costa). What I remember most about the Grand were the kids matinees in the summer with an admission price of 9 cents. I first saw “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Yearling” there, along with many other current films and reissues. It closed down about 1956 or 1957, it’s final days being a weekends only operation. They never even installed a wide screen but did get CinemaScope lenses and played a few Scope films letterboxed on their old academy ratio screen.